James langton claeke



(No Model.)

J. L. CLARKE.

APPARATUS FOR SHARPBNING PBNOILS. No. 346,356. Patented July 27, 1886.

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TATES ATENT rates.

or WARWICK,

APPARATUS FOR SHARPENING PENCILS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.346,356, dated July 27,1886.

Application filed May 21, 1886. Serial No. 102.879. (No model.) Patented in England July 13, 1885, No. 8,697.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Beit known that I, J AMES LANGTON CLARKE, clerk in Holy Orders, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, and residing at Leamington, in the county of Varwick, Eng land, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in and Apparatus to be Employed in or Connected with Sharpening Iencils, (for which I have applied for patents in Great Britain, No. 8,697, dated July 18, 1885; in France, dated April24, 1886, and in Germany, dated April 29', 1886,) of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus to be employed in sharpening pencils or the like, whereby the dust and chips produced during the sharpening operation are collected in place of being scattered or dispersed, as is the case in the usual operation of pencil-sharpening, while the sharpening is effected more readily and wit-h greater precision by means of my apparatus than it is in the usual mode of sharpening.

The apparatus may be constructed accord ing to my invention either so that it can be used with an ordinary penknife, or so that it constitutes a sharpening apparatus complete in itself.

Figure l of the accompanying drawings represents in plan, and Fig. 2 represents in vertical transverse section,an apparatus constructed according to my invention, so that it constitutes a sharpening apparatus complete in itself-that is to say, with a cutter forming a permanent part thereof.

A receptacle, A, has fixed therein a blade or cutter,B, situated atsueh an angle and at such a distance from the edge of the casing at a and from the opposite wall or side, at c that when the pencil is passed into the casing, as shown at a in Fig. 2, it rests against the edge or surface at a,and passing under the blade B comes into contact therewith at an angle proper to efiect the cutting of the desired point. The back part, a ofthe casing constitutes a stop against which the pencil a can be brought before each cut, as shown in Fig. 2, to regulate the length of point cut. The said receptacle A may be made with a shield or the like, as at (d, where continuation of the material of the receptacle itself. This shield serves to intercept the chips or dust, to better insure their falling into the receptacle A. The said receptacle may con- Veniently be made of sheet metal; but it may, if desired, be made of card-board or papiermacho, or of any other'suitable material, and it may be plain or ornamental, as desired. If made of a comparatively weak material, such as card-board, it may be strengthened at parts with metal.

I do not limit myself to the shape shown in the drawings, as it may, of course, be varied. For example, it may be made narrower or fiatter, with a correspondingly shorter cutter, so that the apparatus is adapted to be carried in the pocket, and it may, if desired, be provid ed with a lid or cover.

In using the apparatus the receptacle A is grasped in one hand and the pencil is by the other hand inserted into the receptacle over the edge or surface a and under the cutter B until the end of the pencil touches the wall at a", and the casing or the pencil is then moved in the direction of the length of the pencil the requisite number of times to effect the sharpening, the removed portions falling into the receptacle.

The apparatus in the form for enabling an ordinary penkni'fe to be used in place of a fixed cutter is shown in perspective in Fig. 3. Slits O are formed in the sides of the apparatus, preferably extending through the edges at 0, so as to give a springing action to accommodate different thicknesses of blade.

0 are small strips, which may be fixed to one side of each slit, and embrace the end opening thereof, at c, to prevent the distortion of the sides and the accidental withdrawal of the blade. It will be understood that the blade of the penknife is passed through both slits C, so as to take the same position as that taken by the cutter in the apparatus shown at Figs. 1 and 2.

The apparatus may be adapted for cutting various lengths of point by inclining the position of the cutting-blade (or the relative position of the slots for its reception) to the opposite the said shield is shown as constituted by a wall of the receptacle, as illustrated by Fig. 4, which shows an apparatus with a fixed cutter; or for the same purpose the said wall may be provided with surfaces at various distances from the blade, as illustrated at a a in Fig. 5.

I claim-- 1. The herein-described pencil-sharpener, comprising a receptacle having a transverse cutter, and an edge, a, adapted to support the pencil as the end of the pencil isplaced under the edge of the cutter, substantially as described.

2. The herein-described pencil-sharpener comprising a receptacle having a supportingedge, a, a back stop, and a transverse cutter, 1), arranged at an angle to the back stop, as and for the purpose described.

3. The herein-described pencil-sharpener, comprising a receptacle having a supportingedge, a, and provided in its opposite sides 20 with slits 0, adapted for the reception of an ordinary penknifc-blade, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two sub- 2 5 scribing witnesses.

JAMES LANGTON CLARKE.

\Vitnesses:

F. BAXTER, HENRY BREWIN, Both of 47 New Street, Birmingham, England,

Solicitors Clerks. 

